Here's What Carlos Baleba Will Bring to Manchester United | w/ Ryan Benson
Manchester United have completed the signing of Brighton midfielder Carlos Baleba — but what would the Cameroonian actually bring to Michael Carrick’s midfield? In this video, we break down Carlos Baleba's playing style, strengths, weaknesses and tactical role, looking at why the 22-year-old could be the perfect ball-progressing addition to Manchester United’s squad. From his relentless work rate and ball-winning ability to his progressive carrying and tactical versatility, Carlos Baleba has the potential to become one of the Premier League's most reliable box-to-box midfielders - but can he compliment Kobbie Mainoo? Check out the Opta Analyst website: https://theanalyst.com/ 📬 Sign up for the Opta Analyst Newsletter here for free: https://theanalyst.com/sign-up Follow Opta Analyst: Twitter: https://x.com/OptaAnalyst Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theoptaanalyst Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/optaanalyst/ Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@optaanalyst QUESTION - Have a question about a player or data? Drop it in the comments! carlosbaleba manchesterunited manutd
Transcript
Manchester United have completed the signing of Carlos Baleba from Brighton, the final piece of their midfield rebuild. But what can he bring to the team? We're joined by Optus analyst Ryan Benson to discuss the transfer further. Ryan, thank you for joining us. It's not been an ideal start to the season, but it's not all doom and gloom, surely. >> I I I'm not going to go as far as saying I think they'll win the title, but I definitely I don't think a title challenge is beyond them and I think Yeah, I think if if they if I can certainly I can certainly envision a future where they finish, you know, top three again, um potentially second. >> Exactly. Title challenge would be unbelievable, but you'd still take second or third. A man that could help them do that, Carlos Baleba, would you say he's the final piece of this Manchester United midfield? >> I think most United fans would have said three central midfielders and one needed to be of a kind of a particular physical profile and Baleba ticks a lot of those boxes. And that was obviously before like Man well who got who got it was ruled out essentially for most of the season. Um I don't think Ugarte would have had a particularly important role, but you know, him being injured essentially meant that they weren't able to sell him. We do have to acknowledge his 25 26 season was quite Yeah, it was I would say underwhelming. I mean there were for various reasons. There was there was off off-field problems and stuff and su- suggestions that he was sort of distracted by United going in for him last last summer and obviously not not getting him then, but I think all in all he he feels like a really sensible purchase, I think, in the midfield and he addresses some of the some of the needs that United had. >> Look, we all know what he can do. We've seen him in the Premier League, but what would you say he can bring to United that they've potentially missed over the last few seasons? >> Yeah, so the the key attributes that United would have identified with Baleba are I mean primarily his athleticism. Um uh but also his his technical quality. He I mean, he is a really a really good footballer. Um, I think in terms of his athleticism, he he he isn't the tallest player, but he's he's he's extremely strong. Um, and he's got a really good really good turn of pace. Uh, he's he's he's not a slouch at all. So, going back to his sort of his really good season 24-25, uh, he was among like the the top 10 fastest central midfielders in the Premier League that season in terms of in terms of the top speed that he hit. So, yeah, theoretically, uh, things should look a bit different to sort of the the days of seeing Casemiro looking exposed sort of by himself in in midfield there. Um, which I think will be a Yeah, that'll be a nice change of pace, uh, I think for most fans. Then, in terms of like Belayeb's technical quality as as well, he's a really really good ball carrier. In 24-25, he averaged 2.9 progressive carries that took the ball at least 10 m up the pitch, and that was that was Yeah, that he put him in like the top four among sort of his positional peers, uh, that season. And his his strength sort of play has a factor in that as does his pace. So, all round, it's like a he's a really interesting player. He's he's he's fun to watch. Um, but he should he should offer quite a lot to United both in and out of possession. >> Would you say United now have the depth in midfield to compete across multiple competitions? >> Yeah, as long as they don't have like a really bad injury crisis, then, yep, probably. Santos, Tielemans, Mainoo, Belayeb, like they've all got a lot of quality to them, and there's quite a broad range of attributes sort of there. So, the the collective standard among that lot is pretty high. And then, you've also got to remember that I mean, Fernan- Bruno Fernandes can play in a deeper role if if he if he needs to. He played in that role under Ruben Amorim last season. So, I think yeah, anything bar barring the worst injury crisis, it feels like they're pretty well set there. >> A tough one for you. Everyone fit, who do you think will be the starting pair? >> I'm going to sit on the fence a little bit here. Um I I I think it it will partly depend on who they're playing, um what Carrick wants to achieve. In the longer term, my guess is that Baleberin and Mainoo would be the go-to pairing just because their respective strengths complement each other the most, if you know what I mean. So, I sort of I see I see that that pair is sort of the kind of like the ideal ones going sort of yeah, in the in in the long term, um sort of beyond this season.